Wiktionary

多

See also: 夛 and 𭐴
多 U+591A, 多
CJK UNIFIED IDEOGRAPH-591A
← 夙
[U+5919] 		CJK Unified Ideographs 夛 →
[U+591B]
多 U+2F85D, 多
CJK COMPATIBILITY IDEOGRAPH-2F85D
← 夆
[U+2F85C] 		CJK Compatibility Ideographs Supplement 夢 →
[U+2F85E]

TranslingualEdit

Stroke order
 
Stroke order
 

Han characterEdit

多 (radical 36, 夕+3, 6 strokes, cangjie input 弓戈弓戈 (NINI), four-corner 27207, composition ⿱夕夕)

Derived charactersEdit

DescendantsEdit

ReferencesEdit

  • KangXi: page 246, character 11
  • Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 5756
  • Dae Jaweon: page 489, character 6
  • Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 2, page 862, character 2
  • Unihan data for U+591A

ChineseEdit

Glyph originEdit

Historical forms of the character 多
Shang Western Zhou Shuowen Jiezi (compiled in Han) Liushutong (compiled in Ming)
Oracle bone script Bronze inscriptions Small seal script Transcribed ancient scripts
       
Characters in the same phonetic series (多) (Zhengzhang, 2003) 
Old Chinese
多 *ʔl'aːl
哆 *ʔl'aːlʔ, *ʔl'aːls, *ʔr'aːls, *hr'aːl, *l̥ʰjaːlʔ, *l̥ʰjalʔ, *l̥ʰjɯs
跢 *ʔl'aːls, *ʔl'aːds
痑 *ʔl'aːls, *l̥ʰaːl, *l̥ʰaːn
爹 *daːʔ, *tjaː
陊 *l'aːlʔ, *l'alʔ
橠 *naːlʔ
袲 *naːlʔ, *l̥ʰjalʔ, *lal
奓 *ʔr'aːl, *ʔr'aːls
栘 *ɦljeːl, *lal
黟 *ʔleːl, *ʔlil
趍 *sʰlo, *l'al
誃 *l'al, *l̥ʰjalʔ
簃 *l'al, *lal
眵 *ʔljjal, *l̥ʰjal
恀 *ʔljalʔ, *l̥ʰjalʔ, *ɦljalʔ
侈 *l̥ʰjalʔ
姼 *l̥ʰjalʔ, *ɦljal, *ɦljalʔ
鉹 *l̥ʰjalʔ, *lal
垑 *l̥ʰjalʔ
袳 *l̥ʰjalʔ
卶 *l̥ʰjals, *hljals
宜 *ŋral
誼 *ŋrals
竩 *ŋrals
移 *lal
迻 *lal
扅 *lal
拸 *lal, *lalʔ
熪 *lal
謻 *lal
蛥 *ɢljad

Ideogrammic compound (會意) – two pieces of meat (肉). In the bronze script, 肉 was corrupted into 夕 due to visual similarity, making 多 into a duplication of 夕. The form with 夕 was inherited in later scripts.

Chi (2010) suggests that meat is scarce in ancient times, so two pieces of meat is a lot, citing a passage from Mencius:

七十者可以食肉矣。 [MSC, trad. and simp.]
Qīshí zhě kěyǐ shí ròu yǐ. [Pinyin]
Persons of seventy years may eat meat.

Chang Ping-chuan suggests that it is the duplicative nature of the character that gives the meaning of "many", just like in 林 (“forest”), from 木 (“tree; wood”).

Etymology 1Edit

simp. and trad.
 多
alternative forms 𡖈
𢑑
夛

Etymology unclear. Schuessler (2007) suggests that it is in the same word family as 諸 (OC *tjaː, *tja, “many; all”) and 庶 (OC *hljaɡs, “many”).

Hill (2014, 2019) compares it to Tibetan ཆེ (che, “big”), མཐེ་བོ (mthe bo, “thumb”), Burmese တယ် (tai, “very”). STEDT derives the latter two from Proto-Sino-Tibetan *ta-j (“big”), whose Chinese comparandum is 大 (OC *daːds, “large”) instead; Baxter (1992) has also compared it to this etymon.

Baxter and Sagart (1998) propose that there may be a prefix *t- in this word that gives a mass noun reading, which may nullify the connection to Proto-Sino-Tibetan *ta-j (“big”). However, Baxter and Sagart (2014) may have withdraw from this theory since they no longer indicate the *t as a prefix.

Also compare Proto-Tai *ʰlaːjᴬ (“many, much”), whence Thai หลาย (lǎai, “many”) and Zhuang lai (“many”), and Proto-Hlai *hləːy (“many”) (Gong Qunhu, 2002; Schuessler, 2007; Baxter and Sagart, 2014). Schuessler (2007) considers the Chinese word to be from Kra-Dai, but others suggest that the direction of borrowing may have been the other way (Li, 1977; Baxter and Sagart, 1998; Norquest, 2007).

PronunciationEdit

Note: duó - colloquial variant (“so, how, what”).
Note: doe1 - colloquial variant (“few”).
Note:
  • duói - vernacular;
  • dó - literary;
  • do̿ - limited (e.g. 多謝).
  • Min Dong
  • Min Nan
  • Wu
  • Xiang
    • Rime
    Character 多
    Reading # 1/1
    Initial (聲) 端 (5)
    Final (韻) 歌 (94)
    Tone (調) Level (Ø)
    Openness (開合) Open
    Division (等) I
    Fanqie 得何切
    Reconstructions
    Zhengzhang
    Shangfang         		/tɑ/
    Pan
    Wuyun         		/tɑ/
    Shao
    Rongfen         		/tɑ/
    Edwin
    Pulleyblank         		/ta/
    Li
    Rong         		/tɑ/
    Wang
    Li         		/tɑ/
    Bernard
    Karlgren         		/tɑ/
    Expected
    Mandarin
    Reflex         		duō
    Expected
    Cantonese
    Reflex         		do1
    Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
    Character 多
    Reading # 1/1
    Modern
    Beijing
    (Pinyin)         		duō
    Middle
    Chinese         		‹ ta ›
    Old
    Chinese         		/*[t.l]ˁaj/
    English many

    Notes for Old Chinese notations in the Baxter–Sagart system:

    * Parentheses "()" indicate uncertain presence;
    * Square brackets "[]" indicate uncertain identity, e.g. *[t] as coda may in fact be *-t or *-p;
    * Angle brackets "<>" indicate infix;
    * Hyphen "-" indicates morpheme boundary;

    * Period "." indicates syllable boundary.
    Zhengzhang system (2003)
    Character 多
    Reading # 1/1
    No. 2637
    Phonetic
    component         		多
    Rime
    group         		歌
    Rime
    subdivision         		1
    Corresponding
    MC rime         		多
    Old
    Chinese         		/*ʔl'aːl/
    Notes 甲金文從二肉非二夕

    DefinitionsEdit

    多

    1. many; much; a lot of; numerous
      街上有很多人。  ―  Jiēshàng yǒu hěn duō rén.  ―  There is a lot of people in the street
      Antonym: 少 (shǎo)
    2. (after an amount) over; and more; more than
      兩年多 / 两年多  ―  liǎng nián duō  ―  more than two years
    3. (used in comparison structure 得多, 多了) much more; a lot more; far more
      他比我高得多。  ―  Tā bǐ wǒ gāo de duō.  ―  He is a lot taller than I am.
      病人今天好多了。  ―  Bìngrén jīntiān hǎo duō le.  ―  The patient is much better today.
    4. more
      我應該多運動。 / 我应该多运动。  ―  Wǒ yīnggāi duō yùndòng.  ―  I should exercise more.
      冚多張被 / 冚多张被 [Cantonese]  ―  kam2 do1 zoeng1 pei5 [Jyutping]  ―  put on one more blanket
      今天比昨天冷，得多穿一件外套。 [MSC, trad. and simp.]
      Jīntiān bǐ zuótiān lěng, děi duō chuān yī jiàn wàitào. [Pinyin]
      Today is colder than yesterday, so you have to put on one more jacket.
    5. extra; in excess
      佢真係好易醉，飲多兩杯啤酒就冧咗喇。 [Cantonese, trad.]
      佢真系好易醉，饮多两杯啤酒就冧咗喇。 [Cantonese, simp.]
      keoi5 zan1 hai6 hou2 ji6 zeoi3, jam2 do1 loeng5 bui1 be1 zau2 zau6 lam3 zo2 laa3. [Jyutping]
      He gets drunk really easily. He passed out after drinking a few extra glasses of beer.
    6. (used in question) how; how much; what
      你到學校要走多遠的距離？ [MSC, trad.]
      你到学校要走多远的距离？ [MSC, simp.]
      Nǐ dào xuéxiào yào zǒu duō yuǎn de jùlí? [Pinyin]
      How far do you have to walk to get to school?
      你多高？  ―  Nǐ duō gāo?  ―  How tall are you?
    7. (emphasis in exclamations) so; how; what
      看她多漂亮啊！  ―  Kàn tā duō piàoliàng a!  ―  Look how pretty she is!
      她戴的帽子多可愛呀！ [MSC, trad.]
      她戴的帽子多可爱呀！ [MSC, simp.]
      Tā dài de màozǐ duō kě'ài ya! [Pinyin]
      What an adorable hat she is wearing! / The hat she is wearing is so adorable!
    8. to have a lot
    9. to have more; to have too much; to have too many
      他買了四張票，多了一張。 [MSC, trad.]
      他买了四张票，多了一张。 [MSC, simp.]
      Tā mǎi le sì zhāng piào, duō le yī zhāng. [Pinyin]
      He bought four tickets, which was one too many.
      屋企多咗一個人。 [Cantonese, trad.]
      屋企多咗一个人。 [Cantonese, simp.]
      uk1 kei5 do1 zo2 jat1 go3 jan4. [Jyutping]
      The household has a new member.
    10. (Cantonese) few; little
      咁多多 [Cantonese]  ―  gam3 doe1 doe1 [Jyutping]  ―  just this much (meaning “just very few”)
    Usage notesEdit
    • (over, more than): When the number is smaller or equal to 10, 多 can be put after the measure word. If it is bigger than ten, 多 has to be put before the measure word.
    • (more): In Mandarin, 多 is usually placed before the verb, but in Cantonese, it is usually placed after the verb.
    SynonymsEdit
    Dialectal synonyms of 多 (“many; much”) [map]
    Variety Location Words
    Classical Chinese 多, 夥
    Formal (Written Standard Chinese) 多
    Mandarin Beijing 多
    Taiwan 多
    Harbin 多
    Muping 多
    Jinan 多
    Luoyang 多
    Wanrong 多
    Xi'an 多
    Yinchuan 多
    Lanzhou 多
    Xining 多
    Ürümqi 多, 托洛
    Wuhan 多
    Chengdu 多
    Guiyang 多
    Liuzhou 多
    Yangzhou 多
    Nanjing 多, 歹
    Hefei 多
    Malaysia 多
    Singapore 多
    Cantonese Guangzhou 多
    Hong Kong 多
    Taishan 多
    Dongguan 多
    Yangjiang 多
    Kuala Lumpur (Guangfu) 多
    Singapore (Guangfu) 多
    Gan Nanchang 多
    Lichuan 多
    Pingxiang 多
    Hakka Meixian 多
    Changting 多
    Wuping 多
    Liancheng 多
    Ninghua 多
    Yudu 多
    Miaoli (N. Sixian) 多
    Liudui (S. Sixian) 多
    Hsinchu (Hailu) 多
    Dongshi (Dabu) 多
    Hsinchu (Raoping) 多
    Yunlin (Zhao'an) 多
    Singapore (Dabu) 多
    Huizhou Jixi 多
    Jin Taiyuan 多
    Xinzhou 多
    Min Bei Jian'ou 濟
    Jian'ou (Dikou) 濟
    Songxi 濟
    Zhenghe 濟
    Zhenghe (Zhenqian) 濟
    Jianyang 濟
    Jianyang (Huangkeng) 夥
    Wuyishan 濟
    Pucheng (Shibei) 濟
    Min Dong Fuzhou 濟
    Changle 濟
    Fuqing 濟
    Pingtan 濟
    Yongtai 濟
    Minqing 濟
    Gutian 濟
    Pingnan 濟
    Luoyuan 濟
    Fu'an 濟
    Ningde 濟
    Xiapu 濟
    Zherong 濟
    Shouning 濟
    Zhouning 濟
    Fuding 濟
    Matsu 濟
    Singapore (Fuqing) 濟
    Min Nan Xiamen 濟, 加
    Xiamen (Tong'an) 濟
    Quanzhou 濟
    Jinjiang 濟
    Nan'an 濟
    Shishi 濟
    Hui'an 濟
    Anxi 濟
    Yongchun 濟
    Dehua 濟
    Zhangzhou 濟
    Longhai 濟
    Changtai 濟
    Hua'an 濟
    Nanjing 濟
    Pinghe 濟
    Zhangpu 濟
    Yunxiao 濟
    Zhao'an 濟
    Dongshan 濟
    Taipei 濟
    New Taipei (Sanxia) 濟
    Kaohsiung 濟
    Yilan 濟
    Changhua (Lukang) 濟
    Taichung 濟
    Tainan 濟
    Hsinchu 濟
    Kinmen 濟
    Penghu (Magong) 濟
    Penang (Hokkien) 濟
    Singapore (Hokkien) 濟
    Manila (Hokkien) 濟
    Longyan 濟
    Zhangping 濟
    Datian 濟
    Chaozhou 濟, 加
    Shantou 濟
    Chenghai 濟
    Chaoyang 濟
    Jieyang 濟
    Haifeng 濟
    Singapore (Teochew) 濟
    Pontianak (Teochew) 濟
    Leizhou 濟
    Wenchang 濟
    Haikou 濟
    Qionghai 濟
    Singapore (Hainanese) 濟
    Puxian Min Putian 濟
    Xianyou 濟
    Min Zhong Yong'an 濟
    Sanyuan 濟
    Shaxian 濟
    Southern Pinghua Nanning (Tingzi) 多
    Wu Shanghai 多
    Chongming 多
    Suzhou 多
    Danyang 多
    Hangzhou 多
    Ningbo 多
    Wenzhou 多
    Jinhua 多
    Xiang Changsha 多
    Shuangfeng 多
    Loudi 多
    • (after an amount): 幾／几 (jǐ); (Min Nan) 外
    Dialectal synonyms of 多 (“how (to what degree)”) [map]
    Variety Location Words
    Formal (Written Standard Chinese) 多
    Mandarin Taiwan 多
    Muping 多
    Jinan 多, 多麼
    Wanrong 多
    Xi'an 多
    Yinchuan 多
    Lanzhou 多
    Xining 多
    Ürümqi 多
    Wuhan 幾, 幾樣, 好
    Chengdu 好
    Guiyang 好
    Liuzhou 幾
    Xuzhou 多
    Yangzhou 多
    Nanjing 多
    Cantonese Guangzhou 幾
    Hong Kong 幾
    Dongguan 幾
    Gan Nanchang 幾
    Lichuan 幾
    Pingxiang 幾
    Hakka Meixian 幾
    Yudu 幾
    Miaoli (N. Sixian) 幾
    Liudui (S. Sixian) 幾
    Hsinchu (Hailu) 幾
    Dongshi (Dabu) 幾
    Hsinchu (Raoping) 幾
    Yunlin (Zhao'an) 幾
    Huizhou Jixi 多少
    Jin Taiyuan 多來
    Xinzhou 多麼, 多啦
    Min Bei Jian'ou 幾多
    Min Dong Fuzhou 若夥
    Min Nan Xiamen 偌
    Quanzhou 偌
    Zhangzhou 偌
    Jieyang 若
    Leizhou 偌
    Haikou 偌
    Southern Pinghua Nanning (Tingzi) 幾
    Wu Shanghai 多少, 幾化
    Chongming 多下
    Suzhou 幾化
    Danyang 多
    Hangzhou 多少
    Wenzhou 幾倈
    Jinhua 幾很
    Xiang Changsha 好
    Loudi 好
    Dialectal synonyms of 多麼 (“how; what; so; such”) [map]
    Variety Location Words
    Classical Chinese 何等, 何其, 一何
    Formal (Written Standard Chinese) 多麼, 何等, 何其
    Mandarin Beijing 多麼, 多
    Taiwan 多麼, 多
    Jinan 多麼, 多
    Xi'an 多
    Wuhan 幾, 幾樣, 好
    Chengdu 好, 多
    Guilin 好
    Yangzhou 多
    Hefei 好
    Cantonese Guangzhou 幾, 幾咁
    Hong Kong 幾, 幾咁
    Yangjiang 幾
    Gan Nanchang 幾
    Hakka Meixian 幾
    Jin Taiyuan 多麼, 多來
    Min Bei Jian'ou 幾多
    Min Dong Fuzhou 若夥, 若
    Min Nan Xiamen 偌, 偌爾仔
    Quanzhou 偌
    Zhangzhou 偌, 偌爾仔, 偌仔爾
    Taipei 偌爾, 偌仔爾
    Kaohsiung 偌爾, 偌仔爾
    Manila (Hokkien) 偌
    Chaozhou 若
    Wu Shanghai 多少, 幾化
    Suzhou 幾化
    Wenzhou 幾倈, 幾恁
    Xiang Changsha 幾, 幾多, 好
    Shuangfeng 幾, 好

    CompoundsEdit

    Derived terms from 多

    DescendantsEdit

    Sino-Xenic (多):
    • → Japanese: 多(た) (ta)
    • → Korean: 다 (多, da)
    • → Vietnamese: đa (多)

    Others:

    Etymology 2Edit

    simp. and trad.
    		 多

    PronunciationEdit

    DefinitionsEdit

    多

    1. (Min Nan) Alternative form of 濟／济 (“many”).

    Etymology 3Edit

    simp. and trad.
    		 多

    PronunciationEdit

    DefinitionsEdit

    多

    1. (Cantonese) Short for 多士 (“toast”).
      奶油多 [Cantonese]  ―  naai5 jau4 do1 [Jyutping]  ―  toast with condensed milk and butter

    JapaneseEdit

    KanjiEdit

    多

    (grade 2 “Kyōiku” kanji)

    1. many, much

    ReadingsEdit

    CompoundsEdit

    PrefixEdit

    多(た) • (ta-) 

    1. multi-
      多(た)言(げん)語(ご)辞(じ)書(しょ)
      tagengojisho
      multilingual dictionary

    KoreanEdit

    HanjaEdit

    多 (eumhun 많을 다 (maneul da))

    1. Hanja form? of 다 (“many, a lot of”).

    CompoundsEdit

    OkinawanEdit

    KanjiEdit

    多

    (grade 2 “Kyōiku” kanji)

    ReadingsEdit

    VietnameseEdit

    Han characterEdit

    多: Hán Nôm readings: đa, nhật

    1. This term needs a translation to English. Please help out and add a translation, then remove the text {{rfdef}}.

    Derived termsEdit

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